pollychowing's Profile

DON"T go to Secco's if you are hungry and of modest means - however, I recommend the carefully measured wine choices. The menu, written in tiny print, is indicative of the portion size to come. The food descriptions are quite wordy, - a lot to say about little. If you order three plates, you'll have an average size entree, and a tab of $40 (plus $16 or so for the wine). That would cover one person.If you sit at the bar, you have to struggle to remain on your stool, and not slip off on the floor.Needless to say, I left afer a $60 tab, and went over to Cancan for some vittles.

I'm almost embarrassed to recommend Pegasus at Libbie and Patterson, but we keep going back for the consistently good food and value. They have the crispy outside, juicy inside oysters I demand, good veal and fish dishes, and the best calves liver ever (special on Thurs, I think). It is well populated by geriatric customers, it appears (I am one), but it has never disappointed. Try the fruity Chilean red with everything, and you will be content, too.

It's been a while since we've seen the Old John Marshall - I'll bet you are thinking of the four star Thomas Jefferson; had a lovely dinner at Lemaire on my June b'day. It has valet parking and is certainly recommended

A real neighborhood favorite, and a wonderful value for consistently good food is Pegasus. It is a geriatric favorite (ours) for best service and simple, fresh entrees with a varied, unpretentious menu. East of Three Chopt on PAtterson Ave, it serves dinner only.

Loved our evening at Bacchus Weds nite - good service, not too noisey (a more mature clientle), and a good selection. Found a pleasant Malbec, and had an all in one dinner of seafood brochette with shared sides of sauteed spinach - the best, and, of course as recommended, the polenta w/gorganzola. DH liked his rib eye, and we finished with their good choc homemade icecream.Everything was cooked perfectly; we'll be back.

Thanks to Janet, my birthday was celebrated last night at lemaire, and it was delightful. The exceptional service, pristine surroundings and valet parking added to the affair. My husband's lamb was generous, lean and rare; my grouper moist and tasty with an interesting sauce, my nephew's filet tender and perfectly cooked.Everyone was pleased. It's unfortunate folks aren't required to dress properly anymore, but the clientel was mostly upscale.When asked about the future renovation, the concierge said it had been postponed several times, but they wanted the restaurant downscaled to have a large bar, and outside dining. I hate to see it full of noisy, boisterous overalcoholed types creating yet another obnoxious Richmond venue!

Janet, I'll take you up on the recommendation for Lemaire on my b'day June 14th - and I'll give Sensi another go in the next several weeks.I want to be pampered and nicely fed; don't want to feel gouged. Perhaps the sterile feeling I felt at Sensi was the company that night -

daggone it - where do we go in our town?just came home from my first visit to One N belmont; sort of a carriacture of all that we pretend in a French style restaurant. I don't know where to begin - there were only three tables - we arrived at 7:20, our entree came at 8:45; good entree really, but I felt a "muse moi" by then. Anyway, the wine list starts at $50 (that's tops for a real Frenchman!) when we ate at Daniels in NYC, our wine choices (1/2 wh bottle and a red) were $100. I'm weary - where can we go for elegance, ambiance AND gourmet food in our town?!! Don't like Sensi - chrome and cold; Pomegrante was soo slow with only average food; my b'day is coming up with no idea where to go.

Fri nite will remain a special memory; we were pampered and spoiled. The sommonlier delivered beautifuly within our stated taste and prices and our evening was nearly perfect. We did feel there were too many items on the prix fixe with supplements - i. e if they want to charge $49 more for truffles, we feel the dish should be offered with or without ( I was eager for the veal). But this small snag was only a small deterrent, and the event was lovely.

We had an excellent meal there Sat nite; good bottle of Primo Tivo along with a most eclectic menu. Only prob was catching a cab home - the desk told us we'd find one readily - not so (we are ancient).

A BISTRO!!? Well, I must say, that will come as a surprise to Chef Alain et al. They have had themselves listed among some very fine nationally known FR restaurants, and serving bistro food is not the way they are touted. At any rate, the mashed potatoes were not wonderful; not even tasty.

Okay; maybe I was a bit harsh; I had the good veal dish the time before and that's what brought me back. I still feel mashed potatoes are common food, and have become more so as they graduated from truck stop fare to the gourmet table. At least give me a choice: I still yearn for Frog & Redneck's wonderful corn grits that had me coming back for more. And the salad is included - it's wholesome, and adds one to the five a day rule. The gr beans were not so al dente I couldn't eat them, another endorsement. The clientele are appropriately attired, and we can hear each other at our table. Now, that's fair!

A full Sat nite, and a backed up kitchen should not let Alain off the hook - a sophisticated French restaurant should not be serving a mound of bland mashed potatoes on the plate's center. The appetizer seafood crepes were good, my oranged glazed duck was yummy, DH's lamb chops not really competitive with what we find elsewhere at like places,another's rockfish was good, and several loved their calves liver (of course, I can't see paying big entree bucks for a small piece of that, but to each his own - I'll wait and have mine at our SR favorite,Pegasus); a typical FR restaurant salad of good lettuces and an oily but lite dressing, and I must say I'll be hesitant to go back. MAybe I'll get a yearning for the duck again at some point, but not anytime soon.

Karsen's was our destination, and we did have a nice evening. First, pleasant, supportive staff (we are very Sr), sturdy drinks (always important - never a time to be parsimonious), an unobtrusive combo making pleasant enough music, a quiet booth and a big desire on my part to have a gourmet experience. Arugula salad fresh and good, a different and interesting Austrian Pinot Noir, a good lamb shank for Dh, and finally the Ahi Tuna for me. Now here is where things became questionable. A dish with black beans and rice - totally bland rice, totally bland black beans; suddenly a Jalepeno that sent me thru the roof; a lovely grilled tuna, seasoned with a dry chili powder; it simply did not mesh; I ate til I was full, but most of it stayed on the plate.. Wherein is the statement? Should I return? I did so want to find a meal in Carytown to keep me comin' back for more.

Thank you for the input - now, remembering we are here from VA just these two nights, and Daniel is one of them, where would you spend that other night; i want Italian food that stands up to all the best in NYC